Iris Technology has received a strategic investment from OceanSound Partners to expand its radiation-hardened electronics platform serving the national security space and military applications.
Founder and CEO Ed O’Rourke will retain a significant ownership position and continue leading Iris alongside the existing management team.
Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Irvine, California, Iris designs and manufactures space-qualified electronics used to power, condition, and control sensing payloads and subsystems aboard satellites.
Its space portfolio includes cryocooler control electronics, focal plane interface electronics, and heater control cards.
Those systems support missile warning, missile tracking, electro-optical and infrared surveillance, and other national security, civil, and scientific missions.
Iris supplies major space prime contractors and payload integrators including BAE Systems, General Atomics, Leidos, Leonardo DRS, and Northrop Grumman.
The company also produces tactical radio power and data adapters, man-portable power management and distribution systems, and vehicle-mounted inverters.
OceanSound plans to support investments in Iris’ testing and qualification capabilities, engineering organization, supply chain, and program management infrastructure.
The companies also intend to shorten production lead times, support production ramps, expand Iris’ reach with allied customers and payload manufacturers, and develop additional tactical power products.
Iris will remain an independent and partner-neutral supplier serving payload integrators.
OceanSound and Iris also plan to expand the company’s product portfolio through internal development and acquisitions.
Gibson Dunn served as legal advisor to OceanSound. Kroll Securities served as exclusive financial advisor to Iris, while Crowell & Moring provided legal counsel.
OceanSound invests in technology and technology-enabled services businesses serving aerospace, defense, government, and highly regulated markets.
KEY QUOTES:
“Missile warning and missile tracking are the most durable priorities in national security space, and the move to proliferated low Earth orbit architectures is driving sustained demand for qualified, radiation-hardened electronics.”
Joe Benavides, CEO And Founder Of OceanSound Partners
“What makes Iris different is that our hardware has already flown, and that kind of heritage is earned in orbit rather than in a lab.”
Ed O’Rourke, Founder And CEO Of Iris Technology
“Iris has the legacy, program positions, and engineering depth to grow well beyond its current scale.”
Ted Shanahan, Partner At OceanSound Partners
